


Hansley and Greteline

by CheezLord12



Series: Harry Potter Fairy Tales [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adoption, Gen, Hansel and Gretel - Freeform, Siblings, Umbridge sucks, candy house, im pretty sure you know the plot of hansel and gretel, oven
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:22:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28622502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheezLord12/pseuds/CheezLord12
Summary: A Hansel and Gretel AU featuring Kingsley, Emmeline, and Dolores Umbridge as evil stepmother (and Cornelius Fudge as pushover father).
Series: Harry Potter Fairy Tales [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2097393





	1. Chapter 1

Kingsley pressed his ear to the door, trying to hear better.

"Cornelius, you are too kind." Kingsley resisted the urge to grimace at the sound of Dolores' voice. "We cannot keep taking care of the orphans. We're already stretched too thin, and with the baby..." She sighed, trailing off. 

Kingsley pictured it in his mind, Cornelius sitting in a chair, staring pensively into the fire while Dolores hovered over him, her hand pressed to her swollen stomach, her lips pursed into a flat line. He snapped back to attention when Cornelius finally spoke. 

"My love, I cannot simply let go of the children. They are as much my own as this child will be. They are my blood, Dolores."

Kingsley felt a warmth spread through his chest as he heard the words. Dolores let out another sigh, and the chair creaked under her as she lowered herself into it. Kingsley could practically see the calculating glint in her eyes, the way her mental gears whirred as she tried to puzzle out how to get rid of him and Emmeline. 

Kingsley was confident she would not be able to convince Cornelius, and he smiled at the thought that she would try, and fail.

"If they are to stay, we will not have enough to eat!" she said frustratedly. "I will starve, and the baby with me! Is that what you wish to happen, Cornelius? The orphans are old enough to learn to fend for themselves, but the child will surely die!"

Kingsley's eyes widened and he glanced at Emmeline, who was directly in front of him, her own ear pressed to the door. She looked similarly worried. He waited, with bated breath, for Cornelius to tell her off.

It was over a minute before Cornelius spoke again, his voice wracked with agony. "Tomorrow, I shall take them into the woods to cut trees. I will tell them to wait and... never return. They will think I have been lost or... died. It will―it will be kinder that way."

Kingsley's knees buckled, nearly giving him away. He silently righted himself, trying to hear Dolores' response. By the time he was able to press his ear back to the door, all he could hear was Cornelius sobbing, and Dolores shushing him softly.

Emmeline jerked her head to the side, and they crept back to their shared room, avoiding the creaky parts of the wooden floor.

As soon as Kingsley shut the door, he whirled around and faced Emmeline, who was lying on her bed, staring up at the low ceiling. "That evil woman!" he whispered. "How dare she—"

"Cornelius was the one who agreed, Kingsley." Emmeline interrupted, not looking away from the ceiling. "This is him as much as it is Dolores."

Kingsley sighed, shaking his head. "No, no.  _ She _ is the one manipulating Cornelius. He wouldn't—"

"But he has." Emmeline interrupted again, sitting up to face Kingsley, though she was only half-visible in the dim light of the moon streaming in through the window. "And now we are to be abandoned. We have to figure out a way to survive the winter. I suggest we take as much food as we can from Dolores and Cornelius, so that we can survive for a while on that." Her tone was flat and scientific, betraying none of the emotion that Kingsley knew was just beneath the surface.

He glared at her, trying to make out more than just her warm brown skin in the semi-darkness.

"No," Kingsley said. "No, we will  _ not _ allow this. We cannot... we must... I know!" He dropped to his hands and knees, starting to pick pebbles off the ground, fingers scrabbling at the corners of the room. "We'll leave a trail of pebbles in the woods, so we can return. Cornelius will be so happy to see us, he'll snap out of it, and everything will be okay again!"

Kingsley looked up at Emmeline, who was staring down at him silently. Finally, she lowered herself down and joined him. "Fine," she conceded. "Fine, we will leave a trail."

~

Kingsley had known Cornelius since he was three years old. There had been a terrible fire in their village, where Cornelius had been working as a woodcutter. The way he told it, he left to cut wood in the morning, and when he'd gotten back, all that was left were ashes.

Ashes, and two children. Kingsley and Emmeline, the only children in the village, had been placed in a small boat in the pond, barely big enough for them, while the fire raged around them for hours. Their parents had died making sure that Kingsley and Emmeline were safe in the pond.

Since that day, Emmeline had been like a sister to Kingsley and Cornelius, like a father. He'd seen Cornelius in many different states. Overjoyed, when Dolores had accepted his marriage proposal. Agonized, when he'd been attacked by a bear in the woods and bedridden for days. Anxious, when Dolores had announced that she was pregnant. But never had Kingsley seen Cornelius so very guilty.

All through breakfast, he wouldn't speak, wouldn't meet their eyes. His eyes had deep bags under them, and as he told them they would be helping him collect wood, his voice was hardly above a whisper.

Kingsley's stomach squeezed as Dolores waved goodbye to them from the porch, a fond smile on her face and a protective hand on her stomach. She knew that Cornelius was going to leave them, that they were probably going to starve or freeze, and she smiled and waved and watched them go.

She was truly the most wicked of women.

He waited for her to turn and waddle back into the house before slipping his hand into his pocket and starting to drop pebbles, making a trail they could follow easily.

Kingsley felt a hollow aching in his stomach as he and Emmeline followed the pebbles back home, trying to swallow away the lump in his throat. He'd known it was coming, but he still felt it like an axe to the stomach when Cornelius had told them to stay in the clearing, promising to return soon.

He never had.

They'd started walking when the sun started to near the horizon, not wanting to be out in the dark for too long, lest they not be able to see their pebble trail any longer.

Beside him, Emmeline paused, her eyes scanning the ground. "Do you see the next one?" she asked, crouching to get a better look. When he didn't respond, she looked up to him.

Her face softened, the usually stoic lines melting into pity. "Kingsley, don't cry. You know Cornelius... he didn't mean it." She raised herself to his level once again and put a hand on his shoulder.

Kingsley blinked in surprise, looking down at her hand in shock. For Emmeline, the action was like a bear hug. He nodded, trying to pull his thoughts together. "You're right. It's Dolores." He swallowed once more before lowering his gaze to the ground, finally seeing the pebble.

He pointed to it. "There it is."

Emmeline nodded. "Let's keep going, it's nearly dark.

Five minutes later, they stood in front of the house once more. Kingsley strode up to the door, knocking loudly. He'd hoped that Dolores would answer the door, but Cornelius did instead. 

His face betrayed the myriad of emotions he experienced in only a few seconds. Shock, then joy, followed by guilt, and finally, a cool mask of relief. "Kingsley, Em!" he crowed, pulling them into a hug. "I was so worried!"

Kingsley resisted the urge to smirk when he saw Dolores over his shoulder, her mouth hanging open and her eyes bugging from her head. Cornelius pulled away, looking them up and down. "I... I thought you had gotten lost, or wandered off." it was clear he was making the words up as he went along. "So, so, I came back here, just to warm up. Then I was going to go out and look for you! Yes, that was the plan."

Kingsley's eyes drifted to the game of cards on the table, the mugs of tea sitting next to them. "Oh." he said, trying to sound like he'd bought it. "Well, we found our way back."

Dolores stood up and embraced Kingsley and Emmeline as best as she could, though Kingsley felt her nails dig into his back as she squeezed them.

He glanced at Emmeline, giving her an I-told-you-so look, before turning back to Cornelius, smiling widely, and crouching beside the fire. "I'm glad we found our way back." he said.

~

Over breakfast, it was clear that Cornelius was still feeling residual guilt from the day before. After picking at his crust of bread, he stood and pulled on his cap. "Come, children. We're going back to cut wood."

Kingsley and Emmeline glanced at each other, eyes wide. Emmeline recovered first, clearing her throat. "Do you wish us to help you today as well?" As she spoke, Kingsley saw her slide the remainder of her bread into her pocket. He did the same, wishing he hadn't eaten quite so much of the crust.

Cornelius nodded. "Times are tough, I'm afraid. I need all the help I can get. For the baby."

Kingsley glanced behind him at Dolores, who was patting her stomach. He felt a spark of sympathy for the baby, who would be raised by Dolores, subject to her twisted morals. 

"I... of course, Cornelius." Emmeline said quickly, donning her own hat. "We understand."

"Very well, then." Cornelius said, his voice hollow. "Let's go. We are losing sunlight by the minute." He stood and trudged out of the house.

Emmeline started to scatter bread crumbs in a trail behind her as soon as they left, but Kingsley stopped her quickly. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Leaving a trail!" she hissed, dropping her hand as Cornelius turned to look at them curiously. "He might leave us again."

Kingsley shook his head. "No, no he won't. He just needs help cutting wood."

Emmeline's hard scowl lessened. "Then where are our axes? How are we to help, by clawing at the trees? Kingsley, he has no intention of keeping us." She spread a few more bread crumbs from her pocket.

Kingsley frowned at her, but he allowed her to take his bread and splinter it apart in her hands. 

Just in case.

He insisted that they wait for Cornelius, so they shivered in the same spot, watching as their limited sunlight slowly disappeared. Finally, Emmeline had enough. "Kingsley, we have to go. It's almost sunset, an no one wants to be in the woods after dark."

Kingsley stood in the same spot, stubbornly staring at the direction Cornelius had disappeared hours earlier. "We have to wait. He'll be back."

Emmeline stepped in front of him, blocking his view. "No. He won’t."

"He will, we just have to be patient."

Frustration started to leak into her voice. "Kingsley, he won’t. He's chosen Dolores and the baby. We have to move before we freeze to death."

Kingsley realized that tears were streaming down his face, blurring his vision as he glared at Emmeline. He felt his heart splinter and shatter, like someone had taken an axe to it. "Em," he whispered. "Why?"

Emmeline sighed. "I don't know, Kingsley. I don't know."


	2. Chapter 2

The only reason they were able to see was because it was a full moon. Unfortunately, there was nothing for them to see. They searched the ground for hours, futilely trying to pick up the trail. Finally, Emmeline realized what had happened.

"The birds." she announced miserably. "The birds ate all of the crumbs. They're gone."

Kingsley released a breath, watching it puff up in the air in front of him. "What do we do?"

Emmeline furrowed her brow, turning in a circle. While Kingsley felt defeat in his every pore, Emmeline only looked more determined to survive. "I think we came from that way." she concluded finally, pointing to a section of the woods that looked exactly like the other sections to him, but he nodded and they started to trudge through the dark woods, tripping on roots and twigs in the pale light filtering in from above.

~

The night was one of the longest of Kingsley's life. They walked for hours with no words, simply focusing on  _ going.  _

By the time the sun started to rise once again, Kingsley felt like the living dead. He hadn't eaten in a day, and that was only half a bread crust. He was shivering wildly, his fingers numb. His eyelids tugged down, begging him to rest his eyes just for a moment.

When the smell hit his nose, he thought he'd finally succumbed to exhaustion and was deep in a dream, but he pinched himself and found that this was very much real life. He glanced to Emmeline, who was also blinking rapidly, trying to discern if the smell was real. "Is that.. candy?" he asked her.

She inhaled deeply. "I think so. Is it coming from... there?" her voice softened and trailed off as she saw it. Kingsley turned and gave a little gasp, rubbing his eyes hard. 

It was a house, with smoke puffing out from a chimney. However, instead of being made of wood, it was entirely made of candy. He saw all types imaginable, from gumdrops to delicately spun sugar to bricks of chocolate as big as his head.

Kingsley realized that he had stepped forward and was now standing centimeters from the wall, his hand hovering over the gingerbread panel that made the wall. Praying this wasn't all some sort of elaborate trick, he reached forward and chipped some of the gingerbread off the wall. It came off with a soft  _ snap. _

He raised it to his mouth and slowly chewed it. 

For a moment, Kingsley was sure he left his body, floating off the ground with the sweet, heavenly flavor of it. Beside him, Emmline had broken off a gumdrop and popped it into her mouth, a blissful smile spreading over her face.

Acting on instinct alone, Kingsley reached forward and took another piece, and another.

"Stop!" Kingsley jolted as he was snapped out of his candy induced daze by a shout. He saw a hunched woman hobbling out of the candy house, a cane gripped in her hand. "Stop eating my house!"

Kingsley stepped away from the house, eyes wide as the woman neared them, running her hand over the now-missing portion of the wall. "What have you done?" she whirled on them with surprising speed. "I just replaced that yesterday! It was going to last  _ at least _ a week!"

"Beg pardon, ma'am." Emmeline said quickly. "We were lost in the woods. We haven't eaten in a day, you see, and we saw your... house. We're so sorry."

The woman grinned happily, sending a chill down Kingsley's spine. "Children!" she screeched. "Oh, you poor things. What are you doing wandering the woods all alone, poppets?"

Kingsley was a little taken aback by the sudden change in her attitude, but he explained, "We got... lost."

She nodded, waving them inside and setting them by the fire. Kingsley looked around and realized that the house was actually made of wood, and covered in a layer of candy on the outside. His eyes traced the high ceiling as he held his hands in front of the fire. The woman  _ tsked,  _ and within seconds, they had steaming mugs of hot chocolate in their hands, complete with a pile of gooey marshmallows floating on top.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, reveling in the warmth inside the cottage. Finally, the woman leaned forward and asked, "What were you doing in the woods, dearies? It's dangerous at night. Where are your parents?"

Emmeline glanced at Kingsley, giving him the opportunity. His heart hardened. As far as he was concerned, Cornelius stopped being his father the moment he abandoned them in the woods. "We have no parents, miss. We are orphans!"

"Orphans! So there is no one to take care of you?"

Kingsley nodded. She pursed her lips together, shaking her head disapprovingly. "You will stay here, precious children. I cannot allow you to wander the woods alone." Kingsley sighed, relief spreading through him. They would survive, at least for a day.


	3. Chapter 3

He woke up feeling more well rested than he'd ever felt in his life. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and sat up, the past few days coming back to him. Almost immediately, the woman was hovering over him, grinning toothily. He flinched, his arm knocking into the bed.

"Good morning, poppet! Did you sleep well?"

Kingsley nodded, his panicked breathing slowing. He looked around and saw Emmeline already awake, sitting at the table and eating a pastry.

Soon, Kingsley was sitting with her, indulging in his own cherry danish. The woman didn't eat, sitting in silence and watching them unblinkingly. Finally, Emmeline stood and wiped her fingers off. "Ma'am, thank you so much for allowing us to stay for the night, bu—"

The woman cut her off. "The night? Nonsense, dearie. You'll stay for as long as long as you need to. I'll keep you warm."

Emmeline blinked. "We couldn—"

"What did I say? You poor orphans don't worry about a thing. There's plenty of room for you here." She stood and walked to a large stove, opening it and releasing a gust of warm air. Moving with surprising strength, she pulled out a large panel of gingerbread and set it on the table. "The new wall." she explained.

Kingsley sat awkwardly at the table as she hobbled around and set another piece of gingerbread in the gaping oven. "That's a very large oven." he said.

She laughed. "Yes, it is dearie, I find that sometimes I need to bake... rather large things." she laughed again, and Kingsley joined in, not wanting to offend her.

Kingsley and Hestia spent the morning nursing mugs of hot chocolate in front of the fire, watching the witch break off the wall they'd eaten into and replace it with the now-cool gingerbread. At what Kingsley guessed was noon, she beckoned the two of them and led them into the kitchen. The first thing Kingsley noticed was the sheer magnitude of it, from the huge mixing bowls, to the counters that stretched out, impossibly long.

However, she led them to the smallest corner, where a cage was sitting. "I hate to ask this, dearies, but would you mind cleaning the cage? It's just been sitting here, collecting dust, ever since the dog died. I've tried to clean it, but my eyesight is not what it once was." She looked at them questioningly.

Kingsley furrowed his brow. "I... suppose." he said, not wanting to be rude. "Let me just..."

He climbed into the cage, which was just big enough for him to fit in and peered at the bars. Sure enough, they were filthy. He turned and beckoned Emmeline, showing her the stains covering the bars.

He realized his mistake when the cage door swung shut with a jarring  _ clang.  _ "Miss, I—" he started, but she cut him off with a cackle.

"You two will make a fine meal for me! All fattened up and full. Ohhhhhh, children are so sweet." she cackled again, turning and making her way to a large pot in the center of the kitchen.

Emmeline banged on the bars, trying without success to knock them down. "Let us out, crone! What are you doing?"

The witch frowned, looking back at them "Now, there's no need to be rude. I said I would keep you warm, and what's warmer than an oven?" she laughed at her cleverness, and turned back to the pot.

"Not to worry, poppets. No need to get comfortable in your cage. You will be dead by dinner." she laughed, ignoring their pleas as they hit the bars over and over.

~

There was a large broth bubbling in the pot and the oven was nice and warm. Kingsley knew what came next, but his stomach still turned nervously when the woman walked forward to the cage. "Now, will you two precious orphans behave and get into the oven, or do I have to force you in?"

Emmeline gnashed her teeth, clawing at the woman, who simply stepped back and smiled. "That's unfortunate."

Raising her cane, she carefully swung the cage open and forced Emmeline out, while blocking Kingsley from following her. Emmeline thrashed, but the woman thwacked her with the cane and forced her forward until she was standing in front of the roaring oven.

Emmeline struggled harder, refusing to go in, and the woman sighed. "Must I push you in?" she asked, exasperated.

Emmeline's eyes went wide and she stilled suddenly, making the woman blink in surprise. "Oh, well done, dear. I see you've accepted your fate."

"No." Emmeline said, raising a shaking hand to point directly into the maw of the oven. "What's  _ that?" _

The woman looked into the oven. "What's what?"

"There, in the back!" Emmeline stepped back and the woman moved forward, leaning into the oven. Kingsley saw Emmeline lick her lips and ready her hands.

The woman squinted hard, leaning on her cane. "There is nothing. Stop trying to—aghhhhhhh!" She screamed as Emmeline placed her hands on the woman's back and shoved with all her might.

The woman tumbled into the oven, her scream cut short as Emmeline slammed the oven door shut, trapping her in the inferno.

Emmeline panted, looking with wide eyes at Kingsley, who started back at her with equally wide eyes. His heart thudded as he processed the scene he'd just witnessed. Finally, he spoke. "Let—let me out.'' His voice was raspy.

Emmeline nodded, her hands shaking as she unlocked the cage and allowed him to step out. Her gaze traveled to the oven, where the witch's screams had completely stopped. "Let's go." she said. "We have to go."

Kingsley nodded, and they sprinted out of the house, leaving the alluring scent of candy far behind.

~

It wasn't long before they stumbled across another cottage, this one made of only wood and with no smoke coming from the chimney. They went inside, carefully exploring every room, until they at last reached the kitchen, which was mercifully small.

A person standing in the center of the kitchen, bent over an onion whirled around as they heard Kingsley and Emmeline enter. "Who are you?" the person asked.

Kingsley and Emmeline glanced at each other, very nervously stepping back from the stranger. "Who are  _ you?" _

"Dumbledore," the stranger said. "My name is Dumbledore."


End file.
